NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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Experiment/Payload Overview

Brief Summary

This experiment investigates how long term exposure to microgravity, such as would be experienced on missions to the Moon and Mars, effects production of cells critical to the human immune system.

Principal Investigator

Stephen Keith Chapes, Ph.D., Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, United States

Co-Investigator(s)/Collaborator(s)

Information Pending

Payload Developer

Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States

Sponsoring Space Agency

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Sponsoring Organization:

Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD)

ISS Expedition Duration:

October 2008 - April 2009

Expeditions Assigned

18

Previous ISS Missions

This experiment has flown on STS-57, STS-60, STS-62, and STS-63. Previous experiments explored macrophage differentiation using space test tubes and by examining changes to rat bone marrow cells. The use of the ADSEP hardware and CellCult cassettes will provide a better level of environmental and experimental control during cell culturing and fixation, leading to higher quality and more reproducible results.

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Experiment/Payload Description

Research Summary

• Exposure to microgravity interferes with several important immune system and blood cell production processes. Disruption of the development of white blood cells (cells which are the first line of defense against new pathogens) is of particular concern for future space flights to the Moon and Mars.



• The BONEMAC experiment investigates the effects of microgravity on macrophage production and development using rodent bone marrow.



• The study will also examine how bone loss during space flight may adversely impact blood cell production.

Description

Space flight has been shown to hinder the development of mature macrophages (white blood cells); however, the mechanism for disrupting this critical immune process is poorly understood. An understanding of which cellular and molecular immune processes are affected by microgravity and how their disrupted functions affects macrophage development from bone marrow stem cells will provide key data for assessing immune function during space flight and crew risks associated with long duration missions to the Moon and Mars. Macrophage cell cultures will be developed using Advanced Separation (ADSEP) hardware and three removable CellCult cassettes. Cultures will be fixed on orbit and returned for analysis.

Mature macrophage cells and their activities are critical for immune function because they are immediately available for combating pathogens to which the body has never been exposed. Also, macrophages play a key role in signaling the activation of other immune cells and responses. The objectives of the BONEMAC experiment are:

• to investigate the effects of the space flight environment on blood production, the bone marrow, macrophage differentiation and gene expression, using primary rodent (mouse) bone marrow cultures



• determine the macrophage differentiation molecular mechanisms disrupted by space flight



• to obtain valuable information about which mechanisms involved in blood production are susceptible to disruption by loss of bone mass.

The expected results include increased understanding of how macrophage development is compromised by space flight conditions, and how this results in decreased immune response. This information is of critical importance for determining the potential effects of long duration space flight on human health.

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Applications

Space Applications

Astronauts traveling to the Moon or Mars will experience degradation of their immune system function due to disruption of blood cell production mechanisms. The results of this experiment will help develop drugs to counteract these disruptions to blood cell production, and help minimize potential crew sickness from exposure to altered or novel bacteria and viruses.

Earth Applications

Investigation of the effects of bone loss on blood cell production may help improve the efficacy of treatments for similar conditions suffered by patients on Earth.

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Operations

Operational Requirements

A total of three rodent (mouse) bone marrow cultures will be used for BONEMAC. Three ADSEP CellCult bioreactor cassettes will be utilized in order to culture 30,000,000 cells. Each cassette consists of three fluid flow paths (feed cell path, sample collection path, and fixative path), which circulate the medium and fixative throughout the system. The ADSEP hardware will perform the various pump and valve operations automatically. 15,000,000 macrophage cells per bioreactor will be fixed on orbit and returned for analysis. Flow cytometry and other molecular techniques will be used to pinpoint the precise molecular path of disrupted stem cell differentiation in retrieved cassettes after landing.

Operational Protocols

Following launch, a Shuttle Mission Specialist will activate the three mouse bone marrow cultures, each contained in separate cassettes. All three cassettes will be housed within the ADSEP hardware for the duration of the mission. Each day the ADSEP hardware will be examined for 15 minutes to determine proper operational status. On flight day 7, the CellCult cassette mechanisms will be deactivated and the cell cultures fixed. Cassettes will be retrieved for analysis following Shuttle landing.

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Results/More Information

Information Pending

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Related Web Sites

Space Research

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Publications

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Ground Based Results Publications

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ISS Patent Publications

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Related Publications

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Images

NASA Image: STS095-325-013 - Astronaut, John Glenn, changing out a cassette in the ADSEP processing hardware on STS-95.

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BONEMAC experiment inside a CellCult cassette.

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This image shows the Group Activation Packs (GAPs) that housed the specimens for NLP-Cells-1 for their on-orbit operations. Image courtesy of BioServe Space Technologies, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.

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In this image shows the Group Activation Packs (GAPs) placed into the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA) which provides environmental controls from cold stowage to incubation temperatures. Image courtesy of BioServe Space Technologies, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.

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